Gash Bell 3000
by SHSL Hope G Komaeda
Summary: In the year 3000, Voxer is a demon that has chosen to participate in the King Tournament. However, he soon finds out that danger lurks at every corner, and finds himself caught up in one of the human world's greatest mysteries: the disappearance of humans from the human world many years ago...
1. A soundless girl

Level 1: the soundless girl...

It was the year 3000. The human world had progressed to a large extent. If Gash could have seen it, he would have been amazed. Everything was completely different from his time on Earth. Among these changes were futuristic architecture, technology, and people. Well, the people probably changed the least...

"Nee-Chan! It's time to wake up! School! School!" The voice pushed through Mari's dreams. She yawned and sat up, blinking. "Mawiiiiiiiiiiii! Schooooooooool!" The voice slapped Mari across the face, and her back straightened quickly. School! She was going to be late! Mari glanced down at the little girl who had woken her up.

"Mawi-Neechan! Huwwy huwwy huwwy!" The little girl was Jennifer, Mari's younger sister. At the age of 6, Jenny (as the family fondly called her) stood low compared to her 14 year old sister. Like Mari, Jenny had white hair. She kept it in pig tails that were held by orange bands. She wore a simple pink dress and rarely had on shoes. Jenny was fond of bouncing around energetically, and struggled to speak in a low voice. Mari patted her sister's head and nodded. Jenny giggled and danced out of the room, the metal door opening automatically to let her out. Mari stretched.

Mari's feet slowly hit the floor, not making the tiniest sound. This activated the robot arms that proceeded to help her with her morning routine. When they finished, Mari had her usual look. Her short, neat white hair was heavily streaked with black. Her eyes were bright blue, but they never focused on anything. She always looked far away. Her clothing was casual and black, and she wore simple sneakers. As she walked, not a sound came from her footsteps. She stepped out of her room, through the living room, and out the door of the house.

Outside the home was the complex tubing system that made up Mochinoki's transportation. The tubes delivered people or objects directly to or into homes. However, people were to big to be transferred into a home. They had to be transferred outside. Mari stepped into the tube outside her home. Instantly she was whisked away into a strange land of tubing, and in moments landed outside her school. There a black haired boy went running over to her.

"Suzuki-San! Suzuki-San!" He called. Mari ignored the incessant calling of her family name and continued walking toward the building. "Suzuki-San, did you hear? There was an explosion in the park last night!" The boy exclaimed excitedly, catching up to her. Mari didn't respond, or even acknowledge his presence. "I thought it was pretty cool..."

"Desperate for interaction, are you Tanaka? You know she'll never talk to you, right?" A boy snickered near by. "What's the point of talking to that girl?" Tanaka, the boy who had been talking to Mari, frowned. Mari remained indifferent to both of them, and entered the school before the scene could escalate.

For the rest of the day, Mari stared out the window.

"Suzuki-San!"

Mari glanced emotionlessly at the teacher.

"Answer the problem, please!"

Mari looked back at the window, seemingly ignoring him. However, a few minutes later, she held up a miniature whiteboard with the answer on it.

After that, she did not move from staring out the window.

The bell rang, and the students filed out, Mari among them. She immediately headed toward a transportation tube.

"Suzuki-San!"

Mari turned, not showing any emotion. It was Tanaka again.

"Suzuki-San, do you want to go somewhere? Hang out at the arboretum? Something? It could be fun..." Tanaka trailed off, seeing the obvious disinterest in her eyes. Mari turned and walked toward the transportation tube again.

"Hey! Mister, miss! Aaaaaaaaaaaaaah, wait!"

Mari turned again.

A small child was standing there, panting. He was short, about the size of a five year old, with a strange helmet of sorts on his head. He had headphones on over the helmet and in his ears. His outfit was strange, consisting of an unusual shape and a web-like pattern on it. It was red, and seemed to cover his whole body. He was clutching a strange white book.

"Can either of you read this?" He asked, holding out the book to Tanaka and Mari.

"AH... Well..." Tanaka opened the book. "I've never read this language, sorry."

"Miss?" The boy looked up at Mari anxiously. She was tracing her index finger along the words, her eyes following the finger.

"Even if Suzuki-San could read it, she wouldn't be able to tell you." Tanaka said, rubbing the back of his head.

"Eh? What do you mean?" The boy blinked.

"Suzuki-San is mute."


	2. creates an explosion of sound

Level 2: ...causes an explosion of sound.

A few minutes later, the boy was sitting in the Suzuki living room. He had introduced himself as Voxer. Jenny was watching him curiously, while Mari continued to trace over the pages of the book with her fingers. Finally, Mari's mother came in with tea.

"It's nice to have you here. We don't have guests very often." The woman smiled.

"Thank you for letting me stay... I don't have anywhere usually, so it's pleasant once in a while." Voxer grinned, but he looked nervous.

"You're traveling, right?" The mother asked.

"Yes. I'm trying to find someone who can read that book..." Voxer pointed to the book in Mari's hands. The mother glanced at it in confusion.

"I can't wead it... It's in some weiwd language." Jenny pouted. The mother glanced at it.

"My, that is a strange language. I can't read it at all." The mother exclaimed.

Voxer looked down. "I figured... No one can. I wonder if Mari-San..."

"Well... Even if she could, she can't say it out loud." Mari's mother laughed. "Mari can't speak..."

Jenny frowned at that. "I was curious about that... I would think that they could cure muteness, with all the technology I've seen so far..." Voxer mused.

"Well... It's difficult to explain..." The mother pondered this for a moment. "She really has a newly discovered form of depression. No cure has been discovered for it. However, over time... It seems to have affected her body. Though her vocal chords show no damage, she strangely has been unable to speak since around three years ago. She was already distant and cold, but now she can't even speak..." The mother sighed sadly. There was silence for a long time. Then Mari closed the book and walked into her room to go to bed.

Later, in Jenny's room, Voxer spoke to Jenny.

"Mari-Neesan isn't mute..." Jenny told him seriously.

"Eh? But..."

"She isn't!" Jenny insisted. "It's not that she can't talk, it's that she won't!"

Voxer blinked. It was odd that her vocal chords were perfectly undamaged... Not to mention a cold and distant personality... "Are you sure?"

"No..." Jenny murmured, curling up in her bed. "But I know..."

That night...

_"Wh- who are you?! Why are you... What are you...?!" _

_"Please calm down!" The man stepped back as water continued to pour down on him and Mari. No... That wasn't just water. It was... _

_"Rain?" _

"Mawi-Neechan! School, school!" This shook Mari out of her strange dream. She sat up and held her forehead. Why had she dreamt of rain? She had never seen rain... Weather control was a big thing in wealthy countries, so it was always sunny in Mochinoki. Mari shrugged it off and went to school...

After school, Mari stepped into the transportation tube. Usually she would put in her home address and just be taken straight to her doorstep. However, that day Mari saw something that caught her attention as she glanced out of the transparent wall around her. As soon as she landed at her home, she entered a new address into the control pad. At once she was shooting through the tubing once again at extreme speed. She landed at the address she had punched in. She stared at the scene before her.

Two creatures were facing each other, a human behind each one. The humans were holding books that looked just like Voxer's, but their's were glowing intensely. One creature looked like a child Eskimo, or like one of the 'ice climbers' from one of those old Nintendo games. The other was brownish red demon-like creature. It's hands sported large black claws. It wore green pants and black shoes.

"Nieruku!"

"Amuruku!"

The Eskimo creature shot a blast of ice at the other one as the human behind it shouted that strange word. The demonic creature's arm glowed and it slammed it's fist into the ice. This caused the ice to explode everywhere, knocking back the creatures and humans. Even Mari, who was standing some ways away, was knocked down. She crashed into a building, and watched with wide eyes as the fight continued.

"Ganzu Nieruku!"

"Ganzu Amuruku!"

The Eskimo clasped it's hands together, and a large amount of turrets appeared around it. Each shot blasts of ice at the other creature. The other creature's entire body glowed, and it shattered each ice attack with a powerful punch. This caused ice fragments to fly everywhere so that they resembled...

Snow.

This was snow. Like rain, Mari had never felt it before. Only sunshine...

It was cold. It was unpleasant. But...

Snow.

Mari's backpack began to glow. She blinked and opened it. The book from Voxer, which she had taken to school, was glowing brightly. She opened it and traced the words...

Then she got up, and hurried away from the battle. She got into the transportation tube and entered her house address. She rushed into her house upon arrival, passed her mom, and ran into Jenny's room. She slammed the door behind her. Jenny and Voxer glanced up at her in shock.

"Onee-San?" Jenny blinked. Mari grabbed Voxer by the head and forced him to face the wall hurriedly.

"The first spell, Kikoeruku!" Mari shouted.

"Setting one!" Voxer said automatically. A white beam with the web pattern from Voxer's outfit shot out from his helmet. Upon connecting with the wall, the beam exploded, causing a deafening wave of sound. The hard steel wall was completely destroyed, and Mari, Voxer, and Jenny were sent smashing away from it.


	3. The first spell

Level 3: the first spell

"So... Can you tell me one more time?" Jenny blinked in confusion. "I'm still confused..."

Jenny, Mari, and Voxer were sitting in the wreckage of Jenny's room. Robots were rebuilding the broken wall.

"I'm not a human, nor any creature from this world. I'm a demon from the demon world." Voxer explained tentatively. "Every 1000 years, the demons of my world hold a competition to decide the king of the demon world. 100 demon children are sent to this world with these books. They then must find the one human who can read their book. This allows our magic to work. With humans reading our spells, we compete to burn each other's books. The last one standing wins."

"Okay... That's cwazy..." Jenny murmured.

"It seems Mari-San is my bookmaster..." Voxer glanced at Mari, who had been unresponsive as usual ever since she recited the spell. "Mari-San?" Mari looked at him. "W- will you help me become king, Mari-San?"

"Yes." Mari said shortly. She then stood and walked into her room. The door locked behind her.

_ "Wh- who are you?! Why are you... What are you...?!" _

_"Please calm down!" The man stepped back as water continued to pour down on him and Mari. No... That wasn't just water. It was... _

_"Rain?" _

_The scenery of the dream changed. Now Mari was laying on the ground as it snowed around two demons battling... _

Mari sat up with a start. Why had she had the same dream twice in a row... That was definitely abnormal.

After breakfast, Mari quite literally dragged Voxer out of the house. They got into the transportation tube and were soon just outside of Mochinoki.

"Now, before we begin... I will explain to you why I'm helping you." Mari said. Her voice was stiff, as if talking was strange.

"Before that... Why haven't you been talking?! Why did you make people believe you were mute?!" Voxer was pretty shocked by this whole turn of events. He needed to know...

"Because... If they thought I was mute, they would let me just not talk to them. Interaction is too bothersome." Mari said. Voxer fell flat on his face.

"What kind of excuse is that?!" The demon exclaimed.

"..." Mari pointed at a large piece of metal nearby. Voxer blinked and looked at it. "KIKOERUKU!"

"First setting!"

The helmet glowed and shot the black and white blast. The metal was badly damaged by the impact.

"We have to fully examine the attack so we know exactly how to use it." Mari said calmly.

"Don't avoid the conversation!" Voxer flailed his arms in frustration.

"Conversation isn't my specialty." Mari replied coolly. "Let's focus on training. I have said all I want to."

By the end of the day, Mari and Voxer had destroyed their surroundings thoroughly. They were both worn out.

"I see... Like this, I can use 100% of kikoeruku's power." Mari shut the book.

"Mari-Chan..." Voxer tiredly muttered. Mari looked at him. "Why do you suddenly want to help me become king?"

"Three years ago, I had an awakening... I realized how dull people were. Most people just... Bored me. Talking to them bored me. So I decided I shouldn't have to speak. I've never had fun with life. But now... When I saw to demons fighting... I was exhilarated. I felt things I hadn't felt before, seen things I hadn't seen before... It was amazing. So I want to keep feeling that... To keep battling. I want to gain the emotions that my illness has taken from me." Mari said. She stumbled through the speech, and had to stop many times to think, but seemed satisfied. She stepped into the transportation tube and headed home.

Above them, a teenager with pitch black hair stood on a building, watching them. A manic smile spread across his face as he watched the demon and human head home...


	4. Mari's school

Level 4: Mari's school

"Nee-chan, wake up!"

"..."

Mari sat up and began getting ready. It was a normal day, and she had to get school. After quickly eating breakfast, she hurried out the door.

"Mari-San is going to school?" Voxer blinked and managed to get out between bites of food.

"Uh huh!" Jenny grinned.

"I wonder what her school's like..." Voxer blinked. An idea had formed in his mind. He jumped down from his seat and ran out after Mari.

As soon as Mari stepped out of the transportation tube and was outside of the school building, Tanaka approached.

"Suzuki-saaaaaan!" He grinned and waved cheerfully. "How was your day off?"

Mari ignored him and walked straight past.

'Why's she ignoring him?' Voxer wondered in his thoughts. 'That's mean... He was just being nice...' The demon continued to trot after his bookmaster.

"AH, Suzuki-San! Have you heard about all the mysterious happenings-" Tanaka was cut off this time.

"You're STILL trying to talk to her? The mute freak can't speak, and she hates you anyway." Another boy snickered. Tanaka looked hurt. Mari stopped abruptly. She whipped around to stare coldly at the two boys. She grabbed Voxer by the head and pulled him to face the bully.

"Kikoeruku!"

"First setting!"

The black and white blast smashed the ground near the boy, sending him flying. Without pausing for a moment, Mari shut the book, turned around, and walked inside the school. Voxer quickly followed.

By midday, all sorts of rumors were circulating about Mari. She was a witch, she had destroyed a building, she had killed a man...

But all these rumors settled when everyone saw that she was staring out the window all day like usual. Mari was imagining the city of Mochinoki filled with snow...

"Suzuki-San!" The teacher snapped her out of her reverie. "Answer the question!"

Mari glared at him, annoyed. "The answer is x to the power of four." She then returned to staring out the window.

However, the class was dead silent. Mari... Had talked?!

There was an uproar through the whole class. Mari slammed her face against the window.

"BE QUIET! This is why I didn't want to talk to you idiots!" Mari shouted in irritation.

...in the end, Voxer had a very strange impression of Mari's school...

Mari dreamed of snow that night.


End file.
